Easy DIY Screen Printing Tutorial for Custom Fabric Designs
Hello Sewing Friends! This is Tamar from Tamar Hope Designs! I’m really excited to be on the blog today to share a fun and easy way to create your own fabric designs! Sometimes our sweet kiddos have dreams of the perfect character costume, but it’s hard to find the perfect fabric. Enter diy screen printing. I used it this year for my sweet little girl’s Joy costume.
The cool thing about screen printing is it is flexible, it flows with the fabric, it’s never stiff and never cracks. I used this method on some shirts years ago. My kids have been passing them down, and the screen printing is outlasting the shirts themselves. It’s great! So, let’s dive in!
What You Need:
- Fabric to screenprint on
- Embroidery hoop
- Chiffon or similar fabric (I used an old sheer curtain)
- Mod Podge
- Shipping labels
- Paint brush
- Screen Printing paint
First draw your pattern on the shipping labels
Stretch your chiffon onto the embroidery hoop. Cut out the pattern and place it in the center of your fabric.
Paint at least 3 layers of mod podge over the pattern pieces. Let the mod podge dry between layers. If you want nice sharp edges on your stencil, carefully paint the mod podge up to the pattern pieces. If you want wavy edges, paint the mod podge over the top of the pattern pieces. Some mod podge will seep under the edges of the sticker, giving you a less defined edge. For the Joy flower, I wanted a less defined edge.
Carefully peel the sticker pattern pieces off of your screen.
Take your finished stencil over to your fabric. Paint your screen printing paint in the stencil.
Press the paint through the fabric with a plastic card.
Remove the stencil
Repeat all over your fabric.
Let the paint dry overnight. Then it’s time to heat-set the paint to make it permanent. Cover the design with parchment paper and press with a 300 degree iron for 1 minute. (300 degrees is usually the wool/silk setting)
Now you are ready to cut and sew to create your dream costume!
I hope you enjoy this technique as much as I do! It opens up a whole new world of possibilities!
Happy Screen Printing!
